6.5 Swede Mould.

[462]

I'm going to take a break from revolvers, for a bit, so I'm in the market for either a Lyman 266469 or a 266673. A friend gave me a few 266469s to try, and they were extremely accurate in my 1901 M96.

Is there an advantage to the 266469 Loverin design, with its abundance of lube grooves, over the more traditionally designed 266673? Boolit weight is not a concern, as the rifle likes 160 grain Hornadys, too.

[geargnasher]

See what Buckshot has to say, do a search for his posts on the 6.5x55mm Mauser. If I remember correctly he is sort of an expert on casting for the Swede.

I just bought a 266673 2 cavity (I'm about to post a new thread about where) and chose it over the Loverin moulds because I cast both my chambers first and found the Almost Cruise Missile 150-grainer will fit the leades better and look prettier imo when loaded. Loverin-style fans will disagree, which makes for good horse-racing, as they say. I'm also planning to paper patch due to the 1 in 6-1/2" Swede twist rate, so the lube groove design is moot in my case for traditional lube purposes.

Gear

[dromia]

I've got the two Lymans and two GB moulds the cruise missles and the 120 grn.

They all shoot extremely well in all my Swedes 1 x M94, 1 x M38, 3 x M96 and a CG63.

Provided the velocity doesn't go over 17-1800 fps, then it all moves into a different dimension.

Do a search for 6.5, Swede or Karlina for some interesting reading on PHD cast boolit loading.

[Jim]

Hey, 462!
I'm 'bout to sire a Carl Gustav M38 and I'd sure like to keep up with your search and research on this. Could/would ya' keep me posted?
Jim

[Calamity Jake]

Don't over look the Saeco 6.5 mold I have it and the 266469. It's hard to tell which one shoots the best

[dromia]

The advantage of a Loverin design is that it's a good boolit to seat out to fill the throat if your barrel has some wear. The Cruise Missle, if I remember correctly, was also designed to be a throat filler to get the boolit centred and avoid deformation as the velocity was upped. Slow powders are preferred so the peak pressure is when the boolit is well into the rifling and supported. Alloy strength and elasticity are also important factors.

As I've said get a Swede shooting cast consistently and accurately at 2,000+ FPS and their will be some seriously impressed people here.

I've just got my .303" British shooting cast consistently good at 2,300 fps, that only took me two years, the Swede is next. :twisted:

[dbldblu]

In my particular rifle I could not keep the check in the neck and have an OAL that would chamber with the 469. Sometimes it shot ok and sometimes it did not with the check partially in the cartridge body. I bought a 673 and that solved that problem. Shoots great and consistant too. Sold the 469 on fleebay.

[462]

Thanks to everyone for your input...lots of food for thought.

Thanks dromia, I've had the Karlina site bookmarked for a long time but had forgotten about it.

Since the 266469 preformed so well, I've pretty much decided to go that way, but it'll take a while to get the funds squared away. When I'm ready, perhaps I'll post in Want To Buy.

Jim, I'll post a range report.

[45 2.1]

As I've said get a Swede shooting cast consistently and accurately at 2,000+ FPS and their will be some seriously impressed people here.

There have been quite a few posts that have said that, by a few different people. The common response was you can't do that, so to speak. Quite a few people here believe if they can't do it, you can't either. Go check the old posts out.

[Bret4207]

I'm no expert on the 6.5 but I do wish I could get a FN Loverin dropping around .268 at 160 ish gr. I have had very good results with the Loverin line. Yes, they can be a bear to get casting right, all those little grooves can try your patience. Still, they allow for a lot of flexibility that the more "traditional" designs don't always have.

I'm also in the camp that believes the answers to a lot of our "rules" just lays in more guys trying new things. There may well be limits, but I'm not sticking to the "hard and fast" rules ideas anymore except in the areas of fit. Fit is still King to me, but I'm not getting into any dog fights over it.

[dromia]

There have been quite a few posts that have said that, by a few different people. The common response was you can't do that, so to speak. Quite a few people here believe if they can't do it, you can't either. Go check the old posts out.


Never siad that it can't and hasn't be done and I don't doubt that people do it. Just for me, and others like me, who haven't put the time in yet to get there, then I am impressed and pleased when other people do.

[Larry Gibson]

The Lovern design is one of the best for long throated milsurps, especially the 6.5 Swede. I have shot several different designs of cast bullets in several Swedes over the years and the one consistent performer is the Lyman Lovern 466455. This general is a 130 gr bullet (+/-) when "fully dressed". It most often fits the throat perfectly when sized .266 to .268" My mould drops them just about .0005" over the throat diameter which is perfect. When seated so the short nose (another accuracy enhancing feature for accuracy at higher RPM) just is engraved by the lead the GC is not seated below the case neck. Thus it is a perfect fit with about 2/3s of its bearing length already supported by the throat before ignition and accelleration.

As to accuracy above the mentioned 17-1800 fps that dromia mentiones; Velocities of 2000+ fps are easy to obtain. Actually much higher velocities are easy to obtain. The level of accuracy at such high velocity and RPMs is dependant upon what your defintion of "accuracy" is and at what range. If you are considering 100 yard accuracy and beyond with the best accuracy using the 6.5 Swede in a milsurp barrel then you will find it below 1700 fps, probably closer to 1500 fps. If 2-3 moa is acceptable accuracy then 1800 fps is quite possible with the right bullet and load. If 4-6+ moa to can't hold paper is acceptable accuracy then 2000 fps is easy. However, if you want consistant sub 2 moa accuracy at 100 yards with a cast bullet out of a milsurp 6.5 Swede at over 2000 fps then the odds against it are slim to none with slim already being gone.

Many have already tried. Some succeed quite well into the 1800 fps range but when the truth is known their best accuracy still comes at the lower velocity/RPM range. All in all, 2-3 moa out of a milsurp rifle at 17-1800 fps isn't really all that bad.

I recommend the Lovern design with a proper fit for the 6.5 Swede.

Larry Gibson